We’re thrilled to welcome our newest sites dedicated to transparency in local government.

By Max Resnik

We’re thrilled to round out the end of 2024 by welcoming a group of incredible organizations that are bringing Documenters into new communities in five states. From new newsrooms and news collaboratives to our first rural and educational institutions, we know these new Documenters teams will contribute so much to our growing network. If you’re interested in bringing Documenters to your community or learning more about how to manage a local program, please reach out to us here .

Here’s what you need to know about our newest sites:

Cincinnati Documenters

Signal Cincinnati, the newest addition to the Signal Ohio network, is a nonprofit community-centered news organization serving Cincinnati and Hamilton County. Building on the success of Signal Cleveland and Signal Akron, this team is establishing a foundation for a collaborative statewide network and bringing new efficiencies and partnerships to better serve Ohio residents.

Los Angeles Documenters

In a victory for collaboration in local journalism, the Los Angeles Local News Initiative is launching with a mission to make sure that local news serves every Los Angeles resident. With more than 20 partners and nearly $15m raised, this new Documenters site will grow to meet the challenges of one of the most complex local government systems in the world. The LA Documenters team will be experimenting with sharing information in multiple languages while building a network to make journalism more accessible to all Angelinos.

Centre County Documenters, powered by the News Lab @ Penn State

In Centre County, PA, Centre Documenters is our first rural site. Based in the News Lab @ Penn State, student reporters and community members will team up to monitor local government meetings in six rural townships. The Centre County team piloted Documenters last year and we’re thrilled to have them join the network officially this fall.

Fort Worth Documenters

Following the success of Dallas Documenters, we immediately heard from a number of surrounding cities and towns wanting to bring Documenters to their communities. Fort Worth Documenters will be hosted by the fiercely local Fort Worth Report. The Report is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization serving Fort Worth, Arlington and Tarrant County and we’re thrilled to see how connections form in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

Atlantic County and Cape May County Documenters

Earlier this year, with the support of the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium, we launched two Documenters sites in Newark and New Brunswick, New Jersey. Now, we’re excited to expand to South Jersey with the launch of our third New Jersey Documenters site at Atlantic Cape Community College. Community colleges across the country are expanding participation in local journalism and local government through certificate programs. Atlantic Cape Community College Documenters will cover meetings in Cape May and Atlantic Counties and participate in statewide learning with our other New Jersey sites.

As the Documenters Network grows, we’re constantly learning from one another and sharing insights from across the country. Elections always bring a new focus on local government and we know that Documenters can rise to meet the needs of our democracy, from the local level to a networked force for participatory civic media. We are thrilled to be supporting organizations in 14 states, 24 counties and counting equipping people to organize for stronger, better informed and more connected cities, towns and communities.

Want to learn more about City Bureau’s growing Documenters Network? Check out Documenters.org.